Lupus is an autoimmune disease that can affect many parts of the body, such as blood, central nervous system (CNS), heart, liver, joints, kidneys, lungs, skin, intestinal tract, and vasculature. Inflammations are commonly observed in the tissues or organs affected by lupus. Symptoms of lupus include abnormal blood panels, arthralgias, atherosclerosis, CNS disorders, infections, joint pain, malaise, rashes, ulcers, nephritis, cardiovascular disease, and the production of autoantibodies. Lupus has manifestations including systemic lupus erythematosus, lupus nephritis, cutaneous lupus erythematosus, CNS lupus, cardiovascular manifestations, pulmonary manifestations, hepatic manifestations, haematological manifestations, gastrointestinal manifestations, musculoskeletal manifestations, neonatal lupus erythematosus, childhood systemic lupus erythematosus, drug-induced lupus erythematosus, anti-phospholipid syndrome, and complement deficiency syndromes resulting in lupus manifestations. See, e.g., Robert G. Lahita, Editor, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, 4th Ed., Elsevier Academic Press, 2004. In the United States, approximately 1.5-2 million people suffer from lupus. 90% of these lupus patients are female. At present, lupus is typically treated with corticosteroids and immunosuppressants. There is an urgent need for improved therapeutic methods and compositions for treatment of lupus.